Herald Blogs

On Wednesday night, September 26, without provocation, officers from the 9th Precinct of the New York Police Department attacked lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community members who were attending an event organized by the Sylvia Rivera Law Project (SRLP). At the celebration, in front of M & R Bar, at 356 Bowery Street, two people were violently arrested without cause. Others were pepper sprayed in the face without warning or cause, and injured. Most of the people attacked by the police were people of color, and many were transgender.

Many of those in attendance at the 5th Anniversary celebration of SRLP were community members and staff of numerous other LGBT and social justice organizations, including the Audre Lorde Project, Critical Resistance, FIERCE, the Good Ole Lower East Side, the Legal Aid Society, the LGBT Community Center, Queers for Economic Justice, the Urban Justice Center, and others. One of the people arrested is on staff at Queers for Economic Justice. Both people have been held in jail overnight, and are awaiting an arraignment. "We are furious, and we call on community members and elected officials to demand that those arrested be released and that the police be held accountable for their outrageous abuses," said Jay Toole, a Shelter Organizer with Queers for Economic Justice.

This week, world leaders and dignitaries gathered in New York City for the start of the United Nations General Assembly. The start of this year’s session has focused on concerns around, human rights, environmentalism, and global peace and security. It is a sad irony that these high level discussions about peace and security are going on less than a mile from the site of police brutality and harassment against members New York City residents who are queer people of color. The events of September, 26, 2007 show a rampant disregard for the rights of all New Yorkers to enjoy freedoms regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or race. This week’s focus on international peace and security is a backdrop to remind us that peace and security begins at home, in our neighborhood police precincts. “It is a powerful statement that in the same week that President Bush has the gall to harshly chastise Myanmar for human rights abuses and blocking freedoms of speech and democracy, here in New York queer people of color were assaulted without provocation and, I might add, without a word from the mainstream media” said Joseph N. DeFilippis, Executive Director Joseph DeFilippis of Queers for Economic Justice.

Queers for Economic Justice stands with the activists, lawyers, organizers, and community members injured, unduly harassed and (in the case of two) arrested. We ask for all New Yorkers to stand with the queer community to protect all of our freedoms and promote human rights, beginning here at home in New York City. Do not let this event slip by without notice.

Queers for Economic Justice (www.QueersforEconomicJustice.org) is a non-profit organization that works with low-income lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people on issues of poverty, class and economic justice.

The topic was finding ways to keep transgender children safe, and someone asked for volunteers to share an idea.

Tim Hardaway was the first to raise his hand.

''He was so genuine,'' said Martha Fugate, the director of the YES Institute, a children's advocacy group based in South Miami which hosted that discussion. ``He gave the perfect answer.''

Seven months ago, that simply wouldn't have happened.

Hardaway would have made a joke or said something hurtful, like his infamous ''I hate gay people'' answer when a radio host asked him how he'd respond to having a gay teammate. That led to the former star point guard's banishment from NBA All-Star weekend and dealt his reputation an embarrassing blow.

Yet there he was, in a classroom with about 40 people, mostly strangers and some of them gay, talking about the importance of education and awareness -- pointing to himself as the perfect example of how attitudes can be reshaped with a little bit of knowledge.

''I just wanted to go in and get educated, that's all. Get educated on what I said and why I said those things,'' Hardaway said Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press. ``I'm working on understanding it now. I'm not really trying to make amends. I've been there trying to get help.''

Hardaway has declined many interview requests in recent months, saying he didn't want to make his work with advocacy groups seem like a publicity stunt or a quick-fix to an image problem.

''I had no idea how much I hurt people,'' said Hardaway, who spent most of his NBA career with the Golden State Warriors and Miami Heat, and still makes his home in South Florida. ``A lot of people.''

In the weeks that followed his Feb. 14 comments, stories circled that Hardaway's home was in foreclosure (he denies it) and that a car wash he owned was unable to pay its bills (he denies that, too).

Neighbors even asked about rumors that his wife and children were leaving him, which never happened.

For Hardaway, it was all a few weeks of ``hell.''

''I've always told my family, there's going to be bumps in the road,'' Hardaway said. ``And I caused a huge bump, the biggest bump in my life. But I'm going to do whatever I can to correct it. That's all I can do. So that's where I am.''

That process began in earnest when he learned of the institute, which has classes and programs designed to raise awareness on issues facing ``gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and all youth.''

The group, founded in 1996, seeks to prevent teen suicides while boosting the self-esteem of children and keeping them free of violence and discrimination.

''I was scared out of my ... mind,'' Hardaway said of his first visit. ``I didn't know how they were going to act toward me. But you know what? They welcomed me with open arms. That eased a lot of my nervousness.''

So he went back a second time, then a third, then a fourth.

And that early apprehension is now gone. His photo appears on the group's Web site, smiling alongside some members of the institute's staff.

He's now considered a friend there, and his presence is so valued that Fugate released a letter earlier this month touting the work Hardaway has done.

''Thanks to his honest albeit misguided reaction, Tim did find his way to YES Institute and the education he got was not just about others, but about himself,'' Fugate wrote. ``Because he is a role model, perhaps other people will also learn -- hopefully before bad consequences happen to them.''

NBA commissioner David Stern met with Hardaway about a week after asking him to leave the league's All-Star festivities. He is aware of the changes Hardaway is trying to make.

Hardaway wants to get back into the NBA some day as a coach or personnel director, yet readily acknowledges that he did those plans a major disservice with his comments.

Over time, he hopes that'll change.

''I have taken steps and I'm happy that I did,'' Hardaway said. ``If I didn't, I'd still be naive about it, ignorant about the whole thing. But I can talk about it now. I'm a polite person. That's how I am.''

WASHINGTON, Sept. 27 — The following statement was released by the executive directors of nine national LGBT organizations Thursday morning in response to the article in the Washington Blade posted Wednesday evening:

Our collective position remains clear and consistent regarding the status of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. Our organizations oppose the removal of protections for transgender people from ENDA. We would also oppose any employment nondiscrimination bill that did not protect transgender people.

We are shocked and upset that, according to the Washington Blade, influential members of the House of Representatives have apparently made a decision to remove protections for transgender people from the bill. If true, this decision was made without consultation with leaders of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

While we don’t doubt the sincerity of congressional leadership’s intent to take action and be helpful to the LGBT community, we cannot disagree more with this strategy. We will continue to work with LGBT-supportive members of Congress to urge their colleagues to immediately drop this strategy.

There was another gay play in town, James Edwin Parker's Two Boys in a Bed Together on a Cold Winter's Night at Fort Lauderdale's Sol Theatre Project. But after a single weekend of performances, one of the two actors bailed from the show. And in small theater, there are no understudies. So you'll have to wait for Some Men, or for the next production at Sol, to get your gay theater fix.

“Today’s Senate vote sends a bold and unmistakable message that violent crimes committed in the name of hate must end,” said Judy and Dennis Shepard, Matthew Shepard’s parents. “The Matthew Shepard Act is an essential step to erasing hate in America and we are humbled that it bears our son’s name. It has been almost nine years since Matthew was taken from us. This bill is a fitting tribute to his memory and to all of those who have lost their lives to hate.”

“We are especially thankful to Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) and Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) for their unwavering leadership in ensuring the passage of this bill,” said Judy Shepard, Executive Director of the Matthew Shepard Foundation.

“For far too long this important piece of civil rights legislation has been misconstrued and distorted by its opponents,” continued Judy Shepard. “Both Houses of Congress overcame the lies and misinformation claiming the bill would take away our rights to free expression and religious liberty. Nothing could be further from the truth. Today we join with millions of Americans to encourage the White House to follow Congress and ensure that the Matthew Shepard Act becomes law.”

The legislation is formally entitled, the Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (S. 1105). It was offered as a bipartisan amendment by Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) to the Department of Defense authorization bill currently before the U.S. Senate. The virtually identical House version of the bill passed overwhelmingly on May 3rd, 2007 with a bipartisan vote of 237 to 180 as an appropriate and measured response to the unrelenting and under-addressed problem of hates crimes against individuals based on sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and disability.

Current federal hate crimes law permits the federal prosecution of a hate crime only if the hate crime was motivated by bias based on race, color, religion, or national origin and the assailant intends to prevent the victim from exercising a "federally protected right" such as the right to vote or attend school. If this legislation is signed by the president, the law will be expanded to protect the GLBT community as well as remove the restrictions on what type of acts can be considered applicable under hate crime law.

Hate crime legislation was first enacted in 1968 when our country witnessed acts of violent hate focused at the African-American community. When Matthew was brutally murdered in 1998, the current hate crime statutes did not apply to the crime. Without the federal resources needed, finding justice for this horrific act cost Albany County, Wyoming more than $150,000 and forced the local law enforcement to furlough five members of its force.

The Matthew Shepard Foundation was founded by Dennis and Judy Shepard in memory of their 21-year-old son, Matthew, who was murdered in an anti-gay hate crime in Wyoming in October 1998. Created to honor Matthew in a manner that was appropriate to his dreams, beliefs and aspirations, the Foundation seeks to “Replace Hate with Understanding, Compassion & Acceptance” through its varied education, outreach and advocacy programs. For more information, please visit www.MatthewShepard.org

WASHINGTON -- (AP) -- The Senate attached hate crimes legislation to a must-pass Pentagon spending bill Thursday, but opponents predicted it ultimately would fail either in negotiations with the House or by presidential veto. "The president is not going to agree to this social legislation on the defense authorization bill," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. "This bill will get vetoed." Nonetheless, the Senate agreed by voice vote -- with no dissenting votes -- to attach the hate-crimes provision to a pending defense authorization bill that designates billions of federal dollars to the Defense Department and the Iraq war. Writing violent attacks on gays into federal hate crime laws is an appropriate add-on to legislation funding the war, Democrats argued, because both initiatives are aimed at combating terrorist acts. "The defense authorization is about dealing with the challenges of terrorism overseas...This (bill) is about terrorism in our neighborhood," said Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, the chief Democratic sponsor. "We want to fight terrorism here at home with all of our weapons." Agreed the Republican co-sponsor, Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith: "We cannot fight terror abroad and accept terror at home." That's a stretch, not to mention a heavy-handed maneuver that "hijacks'' a bill that includes a pay increase for troops in wartime, said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. "I think it's shameful we're changing the subject to take care of special interest legislation at a time like this," Cornyn said on the Senate floor. Other Republicans complained that states should remain the chief prosecutors of such crimes, as in current law. "Absent a clear demonstration that the states have failed in their law-enforcement responsibilities, the federalization of hate crimes is premature," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who proposed instead a study of the matter in a separate amendment. Attaching hard-to-pass legislation to must-pass bills is a well-established strategy used by lawmakers of both parties, no matter who controls the chamber. Success means forcing squeamish lawmakers to technically vote for controversial policies embedded in massive spending bills -- then hold them accountable at re-election time. The White House has contended that state and local laws already cover the new crimes defined under the hate crimes proposal and that there is no need to provide federal sanctions for what could be a wide range of violent crimes. The hate crimes amendment, which passed as a stand-alone bill in the House this year, is especially tempting for majority Democrats because of Bush's weakened, lame-duck status and some support for the measure among Republicans. But given Bush's veto threat against the provision, it seemed headed for a familiar fate. The Senate in 2004 attached similar legislation to the same authorization bill, but it was stripped out in negotiations with the House. Republicans were careful not to attack the intent of the legislation, focusing instead on what they said was the "non-germane'' nature of the amendment to the overall spending bill. "There may be a time and place for a hate crimes discussion, but it is certainly not now when national security legislation is being held up," said Senate Republican Conference Chairman Jon Kyl of Arizona. "Forcing a vote on the so-called hate crimes amendment shows an utter lack of seriousness about our national defense." Retorted Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J.: "For some, it never seems to be the right time or the right place." Under current federal law, hate crimes apply to acts of violence against individuals on the basis of race, religion, color or national origin. Federal prosecutors have jurisdiction only if the victim is engaged in a specific federally protected activity such as voting. The House bill would extend the hate crimes category to include sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or disability and give federal authorities greater leeway to participate in hate crime investigations. It would approve $10 million over the next two years to help local law enforcement officials cover the cost of hate crime prosecutions. Federal investigators could step in if local authorities were unwilling or unable to act.

Just before he allegedly walked out of a Wal-Mart with a microwave and $92,000 from the store's cash registers, Kirby Archer had another reason to run: He was under investigation for sexually abusing several boys in Arkansas and Missouri.

Investigators in two Arkansas counties told The Miami Herald on Wednesday that Archer, a former Wal-Mart customer-service manager now being held in a Miami federal prison, was being investigated for abuse when he disappeared Jan. 26.

''We had gathered information from children that confirmed it did happen and . . . we all strongly believe offenses took place,'' said Lawrence County Sheriff Department Capt. Jody Dotson, who helped interview the children. ``He knew we were turning the information over to pursue charges. . . . A couple of days later he took off.''

The abuse accusations -- one involving an incident in Missouri -- were just one more element in the world of trouble Archer left behind. He was wanted in the Wal-Mart case. He lost custody of his two sons, ages 7 and 9, after a bitter divorce with ex-wife Michelle Rowe. He had been ordered by a Lawrence County court to leave the home he shared with his current wife, Michelle Archer.

`EXTREMELY COOL'

Kirby Archer denied the abuse allegations. ''When we interviewed him, he was extremely cool and calm,'' Dotson said. ``We hit him with pretty hard questions, and it never seemed to faze him.''

Dotson and state police investigators conducted the investigation but then discovered the alleged abuse took place in neighboring Sharp County.

Sharp County Sheriff's Sgt. David Huffmaster said Wednesday that he likely will prepare an affidavit for prosecutors on the abuse charges ''sometime in the near future,'' though he would not give specifics, citing the open investigation.

In the small Arkansas towns where Archer lived and worked, his murky path to allegations of high-seas crimes and molestation left a wake of mystified neighbors, estranged relatives and gossip in every corner store, auto shop and diner.

''He spent his life trying to make everyone believe he was someone he's not, because obviously he's not what he portrayed himself to be,'' said his estranged cousin, Norma Sutton, 28. ``It gets more bizarre every day as more of his secrets come out.''

A hand-painted sign that says ''Welcome to Strawberry, Home of Friendly People'' greets visitors to the four-way stop that marks the center of Archer's most recent hometown. But he was a mystery to most there.

''He was a quiet, likable fellow, but as long as he kept the lawn mowed I didn't see him much,'' said former landlord Bart Voyles, 77. Archer almost always paid his $350 rent on time on the three-bedroom house he shared with his second wife, also named Michelle, and extended family, Voyles said.

He left hardly any imprint on Strawberry, a town of 283 with a single branch bank, a handful of churches and a small town hall clustered around the intersection of two backcountry highways that sway through fields of cattle, rice and soybeans.

Archer didn't frequent the local diner or hang out with the guys at the auto shop. He stopped in the town post office only once as far as anyone can tell.

''He was just an average guy, kind of easygoing,'' said Jim Meadows of Rick's Detail Shop. ``I tell you what, though, he did have a bit of a Yankee accent.''

Archer had grown more withdrawn in recent years, said William Anderson, 21, who shares a home with Archer's cousin Sutton.

''He started being really shady to everyone, acting like he had a real chip on his shoulder,'' Anderson said. ``It doesn't surprise me to hear what he's done because the last few years he's seemed like someone who would do those kinds of things.''

CO-WORKERS SHOCKED

Others who knew him -- especially those who worked with him at the Batesville Wal-Mart 28 miles from Strawberry -- were more shocked at his arrest.

''It's crazy, because this is a big thing in a small town,'' said Kellee Robinson, 25, who works at the Picture Me! Portrait Studios.

``He was always really nice, helping me when I had people in the studio who wouldn't leave.''

Robinson said he would often flirt with a co-worker. ''He was always hitting on her and stuff, just playing around,'' she said.

Archer often bought alcohol and partied with a younger crowd in town, said Wal-Mart employee Nathan Flanigan, 20.

''We'd go partying and drinking -- you know, average teenage [stuff],'' said Flanigan, of nearby Cave City. ``We used to go and kick it. I wasn't old enough to go to any clubs so he'd buy alcohol and we'd go to his friend's house.''

Flanigan said he knew Archer before Flanigan began working at Wal-Mart seven months ago, but that he hadn't hung out with him often in the past two years. As for the pedophilia allegations, ''I haven't heard any talk of that around here,'' he said.

Family members say Archer befriended Guillermo Zarabozo, 19, of Hialeah, when Archer was a military police investigator in the mid-1990s at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Zarabozo was a young boy with his family seeking to leave the communist island -- among thousands of Cubans who took to the sea during the rafter crisis.

Zarabozo is being held in Miami federal prison, along with Archer, after the Coast Guard found the two men floating in a life raft.

They are being questioned in the disappearance over the weekend of the four-member crew of the 47-foot sportfisher boat that the men hired for $4,000. They were supposed to head to Bimini to ''meet with their girlfriends,'' according to a federal affidavit filed Wednesday, but they apparently changed course and were found about 40 miles north of Cuba.

In Strawberry, rumors of child abuse accusations have circulated since January, along with talk of his Wal-Mart disappearance.

The prospect that the boat owners -- husband and wife Jake and Kelley Branam -- and two others on the yacht might be dead added a new layer of dismay to the musings on Archer's fate.

''If we had been able to get the word out about [the molestation charges] those people might still be alive,'' Sutton said. ``If you talk to that [Branam] family, tell them I'm sorry.''

That gurgling sound you hear could be Jack Thompson’s legal career swirling down the ‘loo.

The frequent video game critic, already facing professional misconduct charges from the Florida Bar which could see him stripped of his license to practice law, has outraged a U.S. District Court judge by including images of men having sex in a document filed with the court last week.

It’s difficult to fathom what Thompson was thinking, but here’s how it all, um, went down:

As GamePolitics has previously reported, Thompson has a pair of lawsuits underway against the Florida Bar in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. One of the cases, presided over by Judge Adalberto Jordan, has been the recipient of a flurry of motions by Thompson in recent weeks.

In a document filed with the court on September 19th, Thompson criticized the Bar for allegedly collaborating with Norm Kent, a criminal defense attorney from Fort Lauderdale. Thompson and Kent have a contentious legal history dating back nearly two decades. From Thompson’s motion:

The Bar’s demonstrable mindset is that the “enemy of my enemy is my friend,” as indicated by The Bar’s enthusiastic, recidivist collaboration with Mr. Kent, over a twenty year period, at Thompson’s expense. Lunacy proceedings have been sought and secured, Bar complaints have recently been maintained for nearly three years.

Kent, who publishes the National Gay News website, was criticized by Thompson in last week’s court filing for “distribution of hardcore porn to anyone of any age.” Not content to make that alleged point in writing, Thompson attached several gay porn pictures to his motion with Judge Jordan. The pictures apparently do not come directly from the National Gay News site, but rather are contained on sites linked from NGN’s adult links section.

In any case, His Honor was not amused.

In an order issued on Monday, Judge Jordan directed Thompson to show cause as to why he should not face sanctions, including possible contempt charges. Judge Jordan wrote:

The attached exhibit, which includes several graphic images of oral and genital sex between adult males, was filed electronically in the docket in this case, without prior permission from the court…

To the extent that the other attorney’s alleged conduct is in any way relevant… there was no need for Mr. Thompson to file these graphic images in the public record. A simple reference to the website and its alleged links would have sufficed…

Through his actions, Mr. Thompson made available for unlimited public viewing, on the court’s docketing system, these graphic images.

For this reason, by October 5, 2007, Mr. Thompson shall show cause why this incident should not be referred to the court’s Ad Hoc Committee on Attorney Admissions, Peer Review, and Attorney Grievance for appropriate action.

In the wake of Judge Jordan’s order, Thompson has filed (at last count) four responses. In the first, he proclaims that he is ready to go to jail over the issue:

Thompson may have more to say in his own defense as to his alleged contemptuous behavior, but at this juncture, with all respect, he does not apologize for nor regret what he has done… if this court desires to throw Thompson into jail for trying to sound the alarm in this dramatic fashion… then Thompson is prepared to go there.

In another response Thompson likens his actions to those of a rather more famous American:

To hold Thompson in contempt for alerting the federal court system to the criminal activity… is akin to arresting Paul Revere, in 1775, for “disturbing the peace” with his midnight ride…

I’m not the one in trouble. The judge found a certain lawyer’s material obscene. I absolutely love it. This is the best thing to happen to me in a long, long time. Check my [case] filings, sweetie.

We have, and this isn’t the first time Thompson has been warned by a court not to include suggestive photos in those case filings. An April 12th entry in the Florida Supreme Court docket covering the Florida Bar’s case against Thompson includes this notation:

…the Court notes that [Thompson] has attached inappropriate and pornographic materials to his petitions that are irrelevant to his arguments. Respondent is warned that should he continue to submit such inappropriate filings, the Court will consider imposing sanctions which may include, but are not limited to, a limitation on Respondent’s ability to submit further filings without the signature of an attorney other than himself.

GP: As we said earlier, it’s really hard to imagine what Thompson thought he might have been accomplishing by including the offending images.

What he has apparently succeeded in doing, however, is seriously upsetting the judge who must decide the merits of Thompson’s attempt to block the Florida Bar from taking action against his license to practice law.

Washington, DC - In remarks today at the Senate Appropriations Committee, outgoing Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Peter Pace clarified remarks he made earlier this year about gay service personnel and the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” ban on open service. In response to questions from Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) about Pace’s earlier comments referring to homosexuality as “immoral,” the General indicated a willingness to change the law.

“Are there wonderful Americans who happen to be homosexual serving in the military? Yes,” Pace said. “[W]e should respect those who want to serve the nation but not through the law of the land, condone activity that, in my upbringing, is counter to God's law.” Pace then went on to say that, “"I would be very willing and able and supportive” to changes to the policy “to continue to allow the homosexual community to contribute to the nation without condoning what I believe to be activity — whether it to be heterosexual or homosexual — that in my upbringing is not right,” indicating support for policies that would treat behavior by all service personnel, regardless of sexual orientation, the same.

“General Pace is right in his assertion that lesbian and gay personnel should be treated equally alongside their heterosexual colleagues,” said Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN). “’Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ however, creates a separate set of standards for gay personnel. The law is about status, and not conduct. Policies regulating conduct are already on the books and should be applied without regard to sexual orientation, but simply being lesbian or gay should not be grounds for dismissal from the armed forces.”

In March, the Chicago Tribune reported that Pace said that, “I do not believe the United States is well served by a policy that says it is OK to be immoral in any way.” While reiterating his personal opinion today, however, Pace indicated that lesbian and gay Americans do serve, and the law should allow their continued service.

“We welcome General Pace’s comments today, and hope he will continue to speak out for the equal treatment of every service member, regardless of their sexual orientation,” said Sarvis. “The lesbian and gay community has a long history of service in our military, and that commitment and dedication should be appreciated. SLDN looks forward to continuing this dialogue with General Pace.”

# # #

Servicemembers Legal Defense Network is a national, non-profit legal services, watchdog and policy organization dedicated to ending discrimination against and harassment of military personnel affected by ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ and related forms of intolerance. For more information, visit www.sldn.org.